


Of All the Things to Fangirl Over...

by LarasLandlockedBlues



Series: Just Say Lass [7]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Banter, Explicit Language, F/M, Flirting, Fluff and Crack, MGiT, Modern Girl in Thedas, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 17:06:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14549337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LarasLandlockedBlues/pseuds/LarasLandlockedBlues
Summary: Modern Girl in Thedas Abigail Henderson has one of her first - very common - experiences in Thedas, and Rylen can't quite figure out why she's so excited about it.





	Of All the Things to Fangirl Over...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sloth_Race](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sloth_Race/gifts).
  * Inspired by [After Rain](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14146962) by [LarasLandlockedBlues](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LarasLandlockedBlues/pseuds/LarasLandlockedBlues). 



> Written as a thank you for and inspired by this absolutely BEAUTIFUL art of Abby and Rylen by the amazing and talented [Sloth-Race](https://sloth-race.tumblr.com/). Thank you so much, and hope you enjoy!
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There was something in the bushes, and Abby stilled, her heart racing.

Demons were still around, weren’t they?

_Oh god, if this is a fucking demon – what is it, day seventeen? And I’m going to be killed by a fucking demon just outside of Haven._

_Just my luck._

The leaves shook, clumps of snow falling off as whatever was in the bushes rattled the lower branches. Abby took a few steps back, not quite certain what she could do. She was still learning her magic, if she tried to defend herself would it get out of control?

Burning down Haven or the forest around it was the last thing she needed, even if it did mean surviving a demon attack. The training grounds weren’t far behind her, maybe she could call for help.

The bushes rattled more, shaking violently, and her heart leapt into her throat.

A shriek left her unbidden as something leapt from the base of the bushes, and she covered her mouth, trying to determine if she needed to run –

And then she laughed. And squealed.

“Lass! Everything all right?”

The deep burr was unexpected, but then again, it wasn’t. He always seemed to be nearby, and she was beginning to suspect there was more to it than just his instructions to keep an eye on her.

Keeping an eye on her didn’t mean checking her out from head to toe every chance he got.

She found herself wondering why that didn’t piss her off more, but at the moment she was too distracted to think about it.

“Shhhh! I don’t want you to scare it away,” she said, reaching out an arm to stop him walking closer. She hadn’t realized how close he already was, though, and her arm was greeted by the hard metal of his armor.

Glancing up at him she saw he had his sword propped over his shoulder, his helmet reflected the sunshine just as brightly as the snow around them. He must have been training nearby, he looked slightly sweaty under his helmet.

“Lass – it’s – it’s just a nug,” he deadpanned, and he looked down at her with a bemused frown on his face.

“I’ve never seen a nug in person!” she exclaimed, her voice higher pitched than normal, giggles escaping between the words. “Oh my god – look at his little ears!”

She grabbed Rylen’s arm and squeezed it, shaking it slightly as she tried to get him as excited as she was.

A nug – a nug, in the weird, naked pink flesh, complete with long whiskers and ears and beady little eyes. It was so ugly it was positively adorable.

“I can’t believe – oh my god look at how its nose is twitching! It looks like a weird, naked bunny!” she cried, her voice a stage whisper as she tried to temper her squealing so that the nug didn’t run away.

“A – lass, a nug is like a vermin, a bunny would actually be cute,” he told her. His voice sounded incredulous, like he couldn’t understand her reaction at all.

“Oh come on, I’d only seen – er, heard – erm, I mean, the Herald had told me about nugs, but I hadn’t seen one yet,” Abby stumbled over the words, realizing what she had almost revealed. “We didn’t have them where I was from.”

“But you had bunnies?” he asked, and she was surprised that he actually sounded interested.

“Well yeah,” she shrugged, and she slowly knelt down to look closer at the nug. For a moment she actually contemplated getting her phone out to take a picture, but then she realized there wasn’t really a point.

“Don’t get too close to it,” he warned her, and he reached down and tried to tug her back by her shoulder. “They’re filthy -”

“It’s not like I’m going to try to hug it,” she sighed, but pushed herself back to her feet.

The movement was finally enough, it seemed, because the nug suddenly turned and fled back into the bushes, leaving small, cute footprints in the snow after it.

“Aww, bye buddy,” Abby called after it, and then looked up at Rylen while she giggled. “What?”

He was staring at her with an odd look in his eyes, somewhere between curiosity and wonder. And it wasn’t that she didn’t like the way that he was looking at her – the problem was that she _did_.

“Thanks for scaring off my nug,” she quipped, and turned to make her way back up the path to Haven.

“Oh come now, lass,” he chuckled as he began to make his way back as well, calling after her as he followed her. “They’re blasted, blighted creatures. You were better off staying away from it.”

“Who are you, my mom?” she called over her shoulder. “Gee thanks, not like I’m not an adult, moron.”

 “That’s not what I meant, lass,” he sighed.

She glanced over her shoulder, unable to resist a smirk at the exasperated tone of his voice. Something about him made pushing his buttons _fun_.

 He had his helmet off and was wiping his forehead with his sleeve, and she noticed that he was smiling too, his floppy chestnut hair glinting in the bright sunlight.

Fuck – his smile was infectious. The subtle way the tattoos on his chin pulled up, the way his facial scars were emphasized, even, made her want to just stare.

Until she noticed that he was looking right at her.

“See something you like, lass?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at her. If she wasn’t mistaken, his voice had lowered almost, the deep burr of his accent even more prominent than it usually was.

Chills that had nothing to do with the snow surrounding them raced down her spine and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth.

Damn it all if he wasn’t smooth as fuck.

“J-just looking at your ridiculous armor, what is that orange part anyway? And do you have to carry your sword like that, like you’re just casually strolling along – la la la, look at me and my big sword,” she mocked, trying to deflect from the way she’d been staring.

But he chuckled and almost seemed to stand up straighter. “Why? Is my sword distracting to you?”

Laughter burst from her lips before she could stop it, noticing the way he almost wiggled his eyebrows at her as he said it.

_Oh my god he’s flirting with me._

_Why do I like it so much?_

“Don’t be such a showoff,” she told him, rolling her eyes and turning back around. But her heart was racing and her mouth was dry, and she couldn’t help but sway her hips just a little bit more than normal as they passed through the gates.

Two could play at that game, and she could almost _feel_ his eyes on the back of her.

_Good – hope he enjoys the view._


End file.
